Chapter 7

tyuo- It's alright. If people don't want to review, let them. It's their choice. I often don't review the stories I like, so I don't mind.

You'll know why Winona is in Pewter in this chapter and the next. It's…not exactly child friendly and will likely get worse.

Warning: Adults things ahead. The rating will likely change to M if it hasn't already.

Also, good news. I've decided to include Journeys in this story. The chapters before this will be updated to include Journeys. Thus, certain dialogue and events in those chapters will change to accommodate that. Fortunately, not much will need to be changed or added as not many of those chapters talked about Ash not being the Monarch or something like that.

The first three chapters should be updated to include that information when this chapter is uploaded. Or at least soon.

Brock

Pewter City

Brock couldn't help but be in shock as he looked at Winona, who was also in shock that the teen boy that had flirted with her years ago was here in Pewter City. Unsure of what to do, Winona then felt a sharp pain in her left hip, causing her to yelp in pain.

"Winona, what's wrong!" Yelled Brock when he saw her yelp in pain. It was then that he noticed her left hip and grimaced. On her left hip was a variety of bite and scratch wounds from the Rattatas. It wasn't life-threatening, but if it wasn't treated soon, it would end up causing Winona to bleed out and he wasn't going to let that happen.

Not having the proper tools to treat the wound, Brock made the conclusion that he needed to take her to the Pokemon Center in Pewter City. It was closer than any hospital in Pewter City. The Pokemon Center, while it wasn't equipped to handle more serious injuries for humans, it was adequate enough to deal with what Winona had at the moment.

Thus, Brock gulped a bit before carrying Winona in a bridal style, causing her to yelp and blush in surprise.

"Brock!" Yelled Winona in surprise, remembering his name when she first met him. After all, how could she forget him with his unique eyes and how he flirted with her so boldly when they first met? "What are you doing!?"

"Sorry!" Yelled Brock as he blushed as well, careful not to put too much pressure on her wounded hip. "We need to get to the Pokemon Center quickly to get your wound treated and the best way to do that is…this." Winona, although relieved at the reasonable explanation and that this wasn't another attempt to flirt with her, she was still embarrassed by it. And continued to be embarrassed as Brock began walking towards the Pokemon Center, blushing all the way. Croagunk and Marshtomp, meanwhile, were following their trainer to the Pokemon Center. Marshtomp, in particular, was surprised to see that Croagunk wasn't using Poison Jab on their trainer. He has witnessed and heard Croagunk preventing their trainer from doing human mating rituals with human females. Heck, he himself, had endured several Poison jabs from Croagunk when he attempted courting rituals with female Pokemon. Though they weren't as effective on Marshtomp as their trainer due to him being a Ground Type, Croagunk still did it and dragged his fellow Pokemon away from the females he flirted with. Yet, right now, he wasn't doing that. He supposed it was because of the female's injuries and incapacitating their trainer now would be a danger to the female's health. At least, that was his conclusion. Croagunk, however, was looking at the female, cheeks expanding. His stare not giving away what he was thinking as he stared at her.

Later

Pokemon Center

"So sorry that we couldn't give you the best treatment possible." Said Nurse Joy as she finished bandaging up Winona's hip. "Our facilities are meant for Pokemon, after all."

"It's okay." Said Winona as she weakly smiled at the Pewter City Nurse Joy. No matter who they were or where they were, a Nurse Joy was always so kind and supportive of people. After Brock brought her here to the Pokemon Center, he went up to the Nurse Joy in charge and explained the whole situation with Winona. The Nurse Joy, though stunned that some Rattata would attack someone so openly in the city, heeded his request and began treating Winona for her injuries. Although she and Brock were more suited to treating Pokemon, they had enough medical training to deal with human injuries as well as sometimes trainers needed to be treated at the Pokemon Center. As a result, the academies for Pokemon doctors and nurses had it mandatory for their students to be trained in dealing with people as well. It pays to be prepared, something that is attested to right now. Brock could have helped Winona instead of Nurse Joy, but considering that Winona had to take her clothes off around her hips in order to get treated, Nurse Joy felt it better if she did it over Brock. She knew his reputation around beautiful young women around his age and sometimes above it. "I just needed a Rattata attack to be treated. Nothing more. If it was a Seviper attack, then I would be in trouble."

"A Seviper?" Asked the Nurse Joy before figuring it out. "Ah, you're from the Hoenn Region, aren't you?" When Winona nodded after some slight hesitation, Nurse Joy smiled. "I knew that you looked familiar but now I'm certain. You're Winona Caelus. The Fortree City Gym Leader over in Hoenn. Am I correct?" Winona expression changed to hurt and sorrow before nodding.

"Yeah, though I'm not the Gym Leader anymore." Said Winona sullenly, causing Nurse Joy to blink in surprise.

"Anymore?" Asked Nurse Joy in surprise. "What do you mean by that?" Before Winona could say anything, Brock came into the room that Nurse Joy and Winona were operating inside the Pokemon Center. Dressed in his work clothes, Brock spoke to Nurse Joy.

"I'm sorry, Nurse Joy, but several trainers came and they need your help immediately." Said Brock. "One's Golem is running a fever and another's Pidgeot is stuck in some plastic. And then there's a trainer's Onyx that's apparently in a rage whenever it's out of its Pokeball. I would do all this myself, but they're all requesting your presence over me."

"Oh, dear." Said Nurse Joy before getting up and taking off. "You check up on our guest. I'll take care of the trainers. Please hurry. There may be more coming if these are any indication."

"Of course." Said Brock before watching Nurse Joy take off to help the trainers with their Pokemon. Once she was gone, Brock looked at Winona and smiled. "How's the hip?"

"Better now that it's treated." Said Winona quietly, a surprise to Brock as he recalled her being more confident sounding when they met, as she looked at her bandaged hips, the Nurse Joy decided to bandage her entire waist area so she wasn't embarrassed much that Brock was seeing her lower half. "Can you turn around while I put on my pants? I understand we're in a public place, but…"

"Of course." Said Brock before turning around. Thanking Brock, Winona went over to the table that had her pants, and a pair of worn blue jeans, and began putting them on. As she did, Brock spoke up. "You never answered my question, Winona. What are you doing all the way out here in Kanto? You have a gym to be responsible for, right? Last I checked, you're still the Fortree Gym Leader. And you don't seem to be the type to leave the Gym for anything."

"You're right on that." Said Winona with a sigh after she put her pants on. Wondering if she should tell him the truth or not, Winona sighed again before deciding to do so. It was going to be public knowledge to the other regions soon anyway. "I…I lost ownership of the Gym sometime ago. Sometime during the World Coronation Series." Stunned to hear that, Brock turned around without Winona's permission and yelled out.

"What!?" Yelled Brock in shock and surprise while Winona grabbed her left arm and squeezed it. "How did this happen?" Winona just turned to look at Brock and the Pokemon doctor was stunned to see tears forming around the former Gym Leader's eyes. Her beautiful lavender eyes. Brock didn't know what to say. This Winona was a lot different than the one he met so long ago.

"Winona." Said Brock upon seeing this, not believing what he was seeing. He couldn't believe the confident, beautiful, and downright brave Winona he met so long ago was crying. "What happened to you." Hearing the question, Winona wiped her eyes before speaking to Brock.

"If you have the time, I can tell you what happened." Said Winona as she looked at Brock, her voice much different than when he first met her all those years ago. It was timid and full of uncertainty with none of the confidence that Brock remembered her having. It shocked Brock that she had changed so much and for the worst. It both made Brock curious and worried for the former Gym Leader. What happened to make her like this?

Later

Pokemon Center Food Court

It took some convincing, but Brock managed to get his break for his shift early so that he can talk with Winona and thus figure out what the hell has happened to make break Winona's confident persona and replace it with this timid one. It hurt Brock to see her like this and he wanted to understand why she was this way and, if he could help her go back to the person she used to be. So, he took her to the food court, got them some food, found a booth for them away from any trainers in the food court, and sat down with her. As she poked at her salad, Brock spoke up.

"So, what happened, Winona?" Asked Brock as he looked at the Fortree Gym Leader in her jeans and orange hoodie, something Brock never pictured her to wear. She still had her long lavender hair. That was a good sign, Brock thought, though he noticed it wasn't as bright as it used to be. It was wild and hasn't been brushed recently. That unnerved Brock quite a bit. "How did you lose ownership of the Fortree Gym, and thus your Gym Leader Position as well?" Winona sighed before looking over at Brock.

"Before I lost my position as Gym Leader as well as the Gym, it was just your typical day in Fortree City with some exceptions." Said Winona as she started her story. "With the World Coronation Series going on, Gym Battles were postponed while the Series was going on. Most trainers were focusing on the Coronation Series and the Pokemon League decided to allow Gym Leaders to enter as well if they wanted to as a result of the Series being put ahead of the various regional League tournaments in terms of importance. Flannery joined the Coronation Series along with Norman, Brawly, Tate, and Liza. All for different reasons. Juan was too busy in setting up Contests in Unova to participate. Roxanne was busy teaching new trainers to participate as well and Wattson…well from what I heard, he was more interested in exploring Unova than participating in the tournament."

"Well that's the other Gym Leaders, what about you, Winona?" Asked Brock. "You didn't participate?"

"No. Unlike the others who had the time to even participate in the series, I was too busy with paperwork for the Pokemon League to participate in the World Coronation Series." Said Winona as she stirred her cup of water with a straw, still looking downcast as when she first started the story. "Whether it was concerning the other Gym Leaders and their performances or just general paperwork that Gym Leaders have to do in order to maintain a Gym, I was too busy to participate. I didn't mind it. I had obligations that needed to be fulfilled. I was put in charge by the Pokemon League to look after the other Gym Leaders and judge if they were performing their duties as Gym Leaders with the diligence and responsibilities that came with being a Gym Leader. That and I had obligations to Fortree City, like the Feather Carnival we have each year, that I couldn't allow anyone else to do. So, I wasn't bothered in not participating in the Coronation Series."

"You were put in charge of the other Gym Leaders?" Asked Brock in surprise. He had of this practice. In each region, there was one Gym Leader out of the standard eight that held seniority over the rest. Typically the oldest and most experienced, this Gym Leader was given the responsibility of monitoring their fellow Gym Leaders and approving their successors. They decided if another Gym Leader needed to be disciplined, like being away from their Gym for an extended period of time without permission from the League, or they needed to be replaced with a more…competent Gym Leader. It had been put in place by the League after they received many complaints from Trainers and cities that contained Gyms regarding times when Gym Leaders either performed too poorly to qualify as a challenge for Trainers or when they weren't around for a Gym Battle, something Brock can attest to witnessing several times when he traveled with Ash. The time with Fantina of Sinnoh coming to mind. Brock wasn't surprised to hear Hoenn implemented this. He was more surprised it was Winona given that responsibility and not Watson or Norman. Both of whom seem quite responsible people.

"Yeah." Said Winona before explaining. "Norman declined as he wanted to spend as much time as possible with his kids and Watson declined because he didn't want to do the extra paperwork and responsibilities, something I can understand, and Roxanne already had enough responsibilities being the Gym Leader of Rustboro City and teaching in its Pokemon Trainers' school to handle that so it befalls on me to do it. Though, looking back, I think it would be better if either of those three took it instead. Then they and the League wouldn't be disappointed at what a failure I am now." Upon hearing that, Brock realized how upset Winona was and decided to figure out what the problem was now.

"Winona, I hate to push you right now, but can you please explain why you're like this?" Asked Brock, gently placing a hand over her right arm. Seeing this, Winona gently pulled away before talking.

"Of course." Said Winona as she looked at Brock, touched by this gentle gesture. She didn't think he was capable of it given their first meet with each other. She tried to squash down the thought of him being disgusted with her when she revealed to him what happened to cause her to lose her Gym and why she was in Kanto. "You see. It all started when a bunch of people in suits came to Fortree City. They came to me and the city mayor about buying some land near and in Fortree City about some project that supposedly was for the benefit of all Hoenn. We, of course, declined, as their little project would have disturbed the peaceful balance we had with the Pokemon in the region as well as doing more harm than good to Fortree City itself. It erupted into a shouting match. Luckily, the police soon came and forced them to leave. But then things took a turn for the worst for me." Winona clutched her cup hard, rapidly breathing in and out as she recalled those days. Brock looked worried and asked her if she wanted him to sit next to her and calm her down, but Winona declined.

"It's okay, Brock." Said Winona as she forced herself to take deeper breaths. After a minute of breathing in and out, she continued her story. "Then things got worse. At least for me. You see, during the Feather Carnival this year, I was going to do my usual routine. Giving rides with my Skarmory and performing the Grand Finale flight of the Carnival. At first, everything was going well, the festival was about to begin, but then…" Winona clutched her cup hard as tears started to form in her eyes. "When Skarmory and I were doing a test flight before the carnival started, he suddenly went berserk and began attacking everything in sight. Buildings. Tents. Homes. Even me and other Pokemon. It didn't matter. Skarmory just attacked everything it saw. I tried to get him under control, but he wouldn't listen to me. It was like he was another Pokemon altogether. By the time I decided to put him back into his Pokeball, Skarmory went and did the unforgivable." Winona then started to cry as she recalled what happened.

Past

"Skarmory, stop!" Yelled Winona as she desperately tried to stop her Pokemon as he rampaged throughout the carnival, destroying everything and sending people and Pokemon running for their lives. She couldn't understand what was going on with her Pokemon. Everything was going well for them when he just suddenly went berserk and attacked everything. He'd never done this before. Why was he doing it now?

Trying desperately to stop Skarmory to no avail, Winona decided that enough was enough and reached into her flight suit's pockets to get out Skarmory's Pokeball. She didn't want to do this, but if Skarmory wasn't going to listen he was going to get back in his Pokeball. Just as she pulled it out, Skarmory suddenly did a sharp right turn at such speed that it sent her flying off her Pokemon. Normally she would have been fine as she trained with Skarmory enough to handle him doing sharp turns, but her focus wasn't on holding onto her giant Pokemon nor did she expect him to do it at all, thus she was thrown off, causing her to fall to the ground. Luckily for her, they weren't far off the ground, but she still got tumbled across the ground a bit. To make matters worse, she hit a metal pole in the gut, causing her to scream in pain. Powering through the pain, Winona got up on her knees and looked at her Pokemon, trying desperately to understand what was going on. She then noticed him going towards a massive statue of a Swellow they put up for the carnival and began turning his wings into steel. Realizing what he intended on doing, Winona then noticed that there were kids near the statue, huddled together in fear, and realized in horror what was going to happen if Skarmory attacked the statue. Their positioning and Skarmory's trajectory meant if Skarmory used Steel Wing in that speed and that angle then one of the statue pieces will.

"Skarmory, stop!" Yelled Winona as she tried in vain to stop her Pokemon, but it was too late. Skarmory cut the statue in half and the upper half began descending onto the kids, who were too scared to realize what was going on. Winona screamed in horror as the statue piece fell on top of them.

Present

"You don't have to say anymore." Said Brock as he stopped Winona, holding her hands as she clutched her cup of water so much that it was causing cracks to appear on the glass. Regretting making her go through that again, Brock gently had Winona let go of the glass before holding her hands tightly with his own. "I'm sorry for making you go through that again. If I only knew…"

"But you didn't and you deserved to know." Said Winona as the tears began flowing again. "To make matters worse, the parents of those kids blamed me for it all. They screamed at me for what felt like hours about what Skarmory did to their children. The pain. The anger. The disappointment. It was all directed at me and I couldn't do anything about it. They were right to be upset at me." It was then that Winona began outright bawling. She wasn't screeching, but her sniffles made Brock pity her. It was then he decided to be a bit bold, feeling like she needed it.

Taking a deep breath, he let go of her hands, much to Winona's surprise. Before she could say anything, Brock slid out of his booth and went over to Winonas'. She then was further surprised when he sat next to her and hugged her. Normally Winona would have been annoyed that someone she barely knew would have the audacity to hug her, but on this occasion, she needed the comfort and she had a feeling that Brock was nicer and kinder than her first impression of him tagged him as. Thus she returned the hug and cried into his chest, letting out the emotions that she built up as a result of retelling what happened just a few short months ago. She cried hard, dampening Brock's shirt quite a bit, for a few minutes before stopping and moving away from Brock.

"Thank you." Said Winona as she wiped the remaining tears from her face with her hoodie's sleeves. "I needed that. You have no idea how hard it was to relive all that again. The shame, despair, and anger, not to mention the horror. It's something I don't want anyone to live through like I did."

"I understand." Said Brock as he looked at Winona as she smiled at him. It wasn't as bright as Brock would have wanted, but it was enough given the circumstances. "And I take it that was what caused you to lose your position as Gym Leader?"

"Not just that, but…" Before Winona can continue, she noticed a group of people entering the Food Court and talking to Nurse Joy. She looked at them and then gasped when she realized who they were.

"What's wrong?" Asked Brock as he looked at Winona in surprise at her reaction. Before he could do anything, Winona looked at Brock desperately before speaking.

"Brock, I know this is a huge favor, but can you please distract the people talking to Nurse Joy. I…I can't show myself to them. Not yet." Said Winona with a pleading look on her face as she turned to face Brock completely. Brock, of course, was stunned to hear this so he looked towards the entrace to the Food Court of the Pokemon Center and saw, to his surprise, Norman and Flannery talking to Nurse Joy while Tate and Liza were looking around the Food Court as if they were looking for someone. Stunned to see four more of Hoenn's Gym Leaders and in one place no less, Brock looked at Winona, still giving him a pleading look, begging him to help her avoid the other Hoenn Gym Leaders.

"Please." Begged Winona as she brought up her hood and tightened it around her head, making sure none of her long lavender hair was spilling out, a bit difficult with how unkempt and wild it was. "I promise to tell you more. Everything, but please. Do this for me." Seeing the pleading eyes of Winona and noticing the other Gym Leaders were getting closer, Brock sighed before deciding on what to do.